THE PACIFIC OCEAN. 5-7 



OJi 



Beautiful diforder, and the i-cft covered with q-rafs. Near »777- 



July. 



the fliore, again, it is quite fliaded with various trees, ' — 



amongft v/hich are the habitations of the natives ; and to 

 the right of our ftation, was one of the moil extenfivc groves 

 of cocoa-palms we had ever feen. 



The 13th, in the afternoon, a party of us made an excur- Sunday 13. 

 Con to the higheft part of the ifland, whicii was a little to 

 the right of our fhips, in order to have a full view of the 

 country. About half way up, we crofled a deep valley, the 

 bottom and fides of which, though compofed of hardly any 

 thing but coral rock, were clothed with trees. We were 

 now about two or three hundred feet above the level of the 

 fea, and yet, even here, the coral was perforated into all the 

 holes and inequalities, which ufually diverfify the furface 

 of this fubllance within the reach of the tide* Indeed, wc 

 found the fame coral, till we began to approach the fum- 

 mits of the highefl hills ; and, it was remarkable, that 

 thefe were chiefly compofed of a yellowiih, foft, fandy 

 flone. The foil, there, is, in general, a reddiih clay ; which, 

 in many places, feemcd to be very deep. On the iiioft ele- 

 vated part of the whole ifland, we found a round platform, 

 or mount of earth, fupported by a wall of coral itones ; to 

 bring which, to fuch a height, mull have cort. much labour. 

 Our guides told us, that this mount had been ere(5tcd by 

 order of their Chief; and that they, fometimes, met there 

 to drink kava. They called it Etchee ; by which name, an 

 erecftion, which we had feen at Tongataboo, as already 

 mentioned, was diilinguifhed. Not many paces from it, 

 was a fpring of excellent water; and, about a mile lower 

 down, a running ftream, which, we were told, found its 

 way to the fea, when the rains were copious. Wc alfo met 



with-* 



